South Korea to give visitors to Olympics visa extensions for 30 additional days

Foreign tourists visiting South Korea during the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Pyeongchang will get an opportunity to extend their stay in this country for an additional 30 days.

The Korean Ministry of Justice was quoted by Insidethegames.biz as saying on 8 January that visitors would be allowed to stay for an additional 30 days if they obtain a special permit.

Current rules permit foreign visitors on visas for short-term, or people entering the country without visas, to stay in the East Asian nation for 90 days. The permit will allow them to stay for 120 days.

Interested people must visit its immigration office and submit necessary documents including tickets for Olympic or Paralympic events and apply for the permit.

The government of the Republic of Korea is hoping to give a leg up to tourism by allowing people to stay in the country after the completion of the Games.

The move is expected to promote sales of tickets for the Games.

A Justice Ministry official was quoted as telling Yonhap, a South Korean news agency, that they were expecting foreign visitors on a no-visa program or on a short-term permit to be the main applicants.

He said that they were hoping that this permit will aid in reinvigorating South Korea’s tourism.

In November 2017, the country had announced that Chinese visitors would be given visa-free entry especially. Earlier, it had extended the same to Indonesians, Vietnamese and Filipinos.

The Pyeongchang Winter Olympics will take place between 9 February and 25 February followed by the Paralympics between 8 March and 18 March.

If you are looking to attend the 2018 Winter Olympics in Korea, talk to Y-Axis, the world’s No.1 immigration and visa company, to apply for a visa.